Lost in the Light- Ophanimel's Message
by RockytheHercules
Summary: Another day between Angel attacks, and Shinji is out of it. There is an Angel attack, but it's not the routine they're used to.


So. This is my first Fanfic, ever, so please remember that when you're   
reading it. I'll get better, I promise. *shields face from things tossed at him*  
Thanks for being kind. *gets hit by more things thrown at him* Ouch! Ouch! Enough  
already. I've written a few pieces of work before, school plays, composition class  
assignments, the histories of message boards, but they all sucked. Out of 50, I'd  
have given them 5s. But stories like the originial Neon Genesis Evangelion get 41,  
so it's not that bad. And also, this has no real place in the Evangelion timeline,   
it's just off and out somewhere. Okay. So I'll start now.   
By the way, this piece of work is Copyrighted by   
Rocky Valkyrie 2002, all rights reserved etc. etc. Rockythehercules@yahoo.com  
  
Lost in the Light- Ophanimel's Message  
Based extremely loosely on Neon Genesis Evangelion by Gainax.   
By Rocky Valkyrie.  
  
It is just another day between Angel attacks for Shinji Ikari. He is  
feeling self-righteous and sick of fighting again today, and so he is laying   
in bed again. For the 4th time that week, the young Ikari is searching his   
soul again at 2 PM in the afternoon. He's trying to comprehend why, or what   
the reason behind his having to fight the Angels is. He tosses and turns   
uncomfortably in his bed, trying to dispel these strange and irrational   
feelings. His chaotic confusion sends shivers down his spine, and this is when  
he starts to sit up on his bed. His laziness overpowers him, though, and he   
decides to lay back down again. He mutters to himself a comment about the   
ceiling, a comment he knows, deep down, he doesn't really mean. He hears as   
the sliding door, which he has never really gotten used to, shifts   
hesitatingly, then starts to open.   
"Go away, Misato-san. I told you I never wanted to pilot the EVAs  
again," he exclaimed quickly as he sensed someone coming in, "so go."  
There was no answer, only an awkward, screeching, loud sort of   
silence. He couldn't see her, but he was sure she was there, part watching,  
part stalking him like she was a predator and he was her prey. She was   
breathing loudly, he thought, as he could hear her breath. She had done this  
before; in fact, every time he did this, except for the last time he did.  
And even then she only didn't do it because she was dealing with a major  
hangover. But 3 days ago, 2 of these periods ago, she had told him that she  
would never pick him up again if he refused to fight the way he did. And   
that's why the last time, when she didn't come, he was worried and went   
looking for her. Disappointed when he found her, he went back to his   
'I hate the world and everyone in it' trauma mode. After all, no one saw  
him but the penguin. Today, though, his heart was pounding when the door   
opened. It was clumsy today, not like how she would usually creep up on   
him, hoping he wouldn't know till she got right next to him. He actually,   
in some sort of twisted way, enjoyed it when she came in her 'Knight in  
shining armor' manner and saved him from his own depression.   
"Fweh!" is the only thing he heard. Surprised, almost surely   
knowing what it was already, he sat up quickly and looked at the door's   
general direction. He was right, it was Pen-pen the penguin after all.  
A bit disappointed, but perhaps also even relieved, Shinji Ikari   
resumes his silent solitary pondering of right and wrong and the vast,   
limitless mysteries of the universe. He knows that it is useless, that he  
will never completely comprehend the universe's knowledge, but it amuses   
him anyways.   
Now he figured that since he was completely wide awake now, he   
would put on his ear phones and listen to whatever was on the radio.  
'Crawling in the Dark' by Hoobstank was playing. Shinji is pleased. The edgy,   
atmosphere-affecting tune and vibe was coursing through his mind wildly.   
It's just what he needed to push through this mood of his, which inclined him  
to search for something which he knew he couldn't find. He was sick of this.   
This mood. This searching. This endless pursuit of what is right. This penguin.  
He throws a rather large coin, which was sitting idly on his radio for no reason,  
at the penguin. The penguin dodges it, lets out a noise that sounds like mock  
chuckling, and hops triumphantly away. Somehow that demon seemed to sense when  
harm was coming its way. Much like himself, he thought. Like someone else, too...  
Shinji Ikari had many times tried to take himself away from thoughts of  
his father. Well deserved by his father, he always told himself, but even he   
himself never believed it. He is sick of the radio now, so he attempts to stand  
up to change his clothes. Much to his annoyance, he forgot to remove himself from  
the earphones attached to the radio, so he falls backwards. On his back, Shinji  
once again contemplates lying in bed lazily for a bit. Just for 5 more minutes,   
he tells himself. Then he realizes that if he lies down again, he'll not get up  
till the next day. So he removes the earphones, turns the radio off, gets up  
and changes his clothes to his civilian clothes.  
Waiting outside for him, with a 7 hour advantage for preparation, Misato  
was ready for him with a very long lecture about morals and getting things done.   
She had not orchestrated this all by herself, either, a drunk Ritsuko with gleaming  
glasses had helped Misato by writing a sloppy lecture. The ever cunning fox-like   
Misato took the lipstick-smudged complimentary low-class fast food restaurant   
napkins when Ritsuko passed out. Misato was surprised when Ritsuko was drunk, since  
she had never really seen Ritsuko drunk before. When she was drunk, she was still  
very cool and intellectual. But she laughed wildly, sounding like an evil witch  
from a fairy tale, with devilish gleaming glasses. Misato had been preparing,   
practicing without emotion first, trying to memorize the complicated lecture,   
complete with tons of 4-syllable words like 'honorary' and 'implications' and   
'insanity.' Then she did them with emotion, from the fake crocodile tears to the   
dramatic pauses, long breaths, awkward silences and even the pointing of the fingers.  
It was amazing that Shinji didn't hear her when she cursed when she messed up.  
But now was her moment. It was about to pay off. She laughed evilly, much  
resembling Ritsuko's actions the night before. She turned around quickly only to see   
Shinji ignoring her and lazily walking into the bathroom with his walkman on. She  
instantly became very annoyed, her veins popping on her head, her face turning red.  
Not wanting to seem prepared or immature, she waited till Shinji came out of the   
bathroom to condescend with her lecture. When Shinji finally came out, his walkman  
and earphones still on, Misato approaches him quickly. But then Shinji raises his hand   
taps Misato's head with a paper. The paper sticks to her head with a piece of tape,   
bordering right at her hairline. She looks up at it, picks it off and reads the   
writing on it. It says, "Late for school. Sorry. Be back soon. -Shinji" At this her  
anger turns to furious rage. She grabs a chair and tosses it wildly. Her face is  
brimming with redness as she lashes out wildly at anything and everything around  
her. Pen-pen hides behind the refrigerator futilely. The cute penguin is his right  
square in the forehead by a still-full beer can.  
"Oro..." is the only thing that can be heard from the passed out penguin,  
helpless from the mindless rage of Misato.  
"...BUT IT'S THE END Of GOLDEN WEEK!!!!!!!" Misato screams out, loudly, hardly  
audible, to no one, just expressing her frustration in words.  
There is a knock on the door. It was none other than Asuka. She had come home   
from shopping for new clothes, and undergarments.   
"He's gone, isn't he?" she asks, methodically, almost rhetorically, with the  
door half open, seeking refuge behind its woody might.  
"Look at this," Misato screams, nearly inaudible, while showing Asuka the   
piece of paper with Shinji's excuse, "does he think I'm stupid?"  
"Huh?" is the only thing Asuka could think of, since although she despised the  
beans out of Shinji's strangeness, she was surprised by his lack of goody-two-shoes-ness.  
She had known him to do strange things, things she didn't understand, senseless things,   
stupid things, risky things, but never to lie. At least not like this.   
"What do you mean 'huh?'" she shouted, as if Asuka herself was the one who had   
done her wrong, "This! This!" she shouted, as she angrily shoved the paper at Asuka's   
face.  
Asuka started to giggle. Then she stopped after a couple of 'ha's. Then she   
starts to giggle madly. The sense in her eyes then disappear. She then bends down,  
still laughing. She puts her hands on her knees, bends her knees a bit, continuing   
the senseless laughter.   
With a 'Huh?' look on her face, Misato crouches down, crouch-walks to Asuka,  
then looks up at her, trying to decipher her crazy eyes. Puzzled, she stretches her   
tired plump legs out in agony, takes Asuka's hysterical head in her two hands, looks  
into her eyes, and just sits there.  
Shinji was just walking around now. His walkman was set to repeat. He didn't   
know where he was, neither did he know where he was going, nor why he left in the   
first place. Misato had provided him with his first truly comfortable home, and he   
actually enjoyed her, Asuka's and... maybe even Pen-pen's company. But something...  
something didn't feel right. It didn't really feel like how a 'home' should feel. It  
was missing something... perhaps a mother's touch? Shinji didn't know, neither did he  
seek to know. He had so many things to do already, so many things to think about and   
ponder, he didn't need another thing. He didn't need this.   
It had begun to become dark. Phoebus would soon retire and resign himself to   
the envious, sick, green moon and the bright spots in the dark sky, the eternal   
embodiment of the adventures of the great ancient heroes of old, who would seek to  
dethrone the sickly moon. Shinji himself did not know it too well, but he had a   
fascination with incredible, adventurous stories of the heroes of old. Somewhere  
deep inside, he envied their joyous, adventurous, irresponsible, free, day-to-day,  
basic happiness. He envied their freedom and irresponsibility most of all. They could  
kill world-destroying monsters and not fear the consequences. When they were heroes,  
they were treated like heroes. They were reckless, they did not have to worry about not  
destroying the surroundings. Much to his own surprise, whenever he heard these stories,  
his curiosity and intrigue rose to strange heights, and his heart thumped within his   
chest with new vigor and vitality. Of course, he tried every measure to suppress such   
overwhelming excitement. He didn't like it when he got excited, because he knew that  
the evil known as his father would take it away and silence it forever, with his   
influence and power. Shinji hated being disappointed more than anything else.  
With these, the next generation of Ikari was falling asleep. He was miles away  
from his home, so he just fell helpless to the overpowering fatigue. He found a close  
alley, and just lost consciousness and fell asleep on the short stone wall. He was  
relieved by finding this repose, so he went to sleep on a good note.   
Rei, walking home silently from yet another experiment with Commander Ikari,  
sees the only other thing on the road, which is the actual walkman which was used by  
Shinji. The other end, the earphones, was still attached to Shinji. She looks to the   
left, then to the right, where she sees Shinji. Shinji is in a lulled state of deep  
sleep. Suddenly, without expecting it, Rei's maternal instincts kick in and she takes  
off her green coat. She decides that her blouse and skirt are enough for her, and that  
Shinji needs it more. She then puts her coat on Shinji, like a blanket. Then she   
resumes her nonchalant walk home.  
Shinji finds himself at school. Strange, he thinks, considering it should be  
Sunday. But he never understood the concept of 'time' anyways. So he walks to his   
class. It's empty, except for the unnaturally, unworldly cheery and preppy classmate,  
his teacher and Asuka. His teacher tells them that everyone else is sick because a   
strange disease breaks out in the city. Great, Shinji thinks, first the Angels and now  
diseases. What was it, he thinks, AIDS?  
This train of thought is interrupted when the sliding door opens, Rei comes in,  
and the door closes once more.   
"I'm sorry." she says, in her polite manner, as usual.  
"That's okay. I did not expect you anyway. I'm surprised. Of all the students  
here, you girls are the ones I'd least expect." she said, in a relaxed fashion, with her  
hand on her cheek, next to the side of her mouth.   
"What?" shouted Shinji, quite glaringly and obviously the only boy there.   
"Oh, I'm sorry, Shinji," she said, directly at him, facing him now, her voice  
becoming very distorted, and at some points, manly, "did I forget to tell you? Useless  
children of mine, like you, are considered women now." It was no longer the voice nor the  
face of his teacher. It was now none other than Shinji's father.   
Shinji would have screamed frightfully, lashed out and attacked his father, but  
with this motion of anger at his father, he woke from his trance-like sleep. He was not  
feeling his best at this time, his head was hurting, his palms and neck were sweating,  
and the sweat had been cold. He had an indescribable, unshakable... discomfort within  
him. Something was weighing him down. Then he opened his eyes, and by now he was breathing   
heavy clouds of steam. It was a cold morning. Then he smelled something. His eyes were  
still adjusting to the seemingly blinding light, the glare from when he opened his eyes  
for the first time that morning. They were half-open, opening and closing quickly,   
blinking, uncontrollably, and this was giving him every incentive to close them again,  
but the scent of something... very likely a woman, drew him to open his eyes completely.  
He finally managed to open his eyes. He was no longer leaning on the wall, but he was   
lying back-first on the ground, staring at the bright blue sky. He noticed immediately  
that he did not have his walkman anymore, but still retained the earphones. Then he smelled  
it again; something smelled, to Shinji, at least, like a woman. Faintly, but surely.   
Sitting up and looking down in one quick, jerking motion, he finally spies the  
green coat left by his unexpected visitor that night. He picks it up, holds it close  
to his face, takes a great whiff of it, and finds that the scent had come from that. It   
was the distinct scent of a lotion someone he knew used on her wounds, her burn marks,  
and it was this sort of cedar-wood, lavender, papaya, soft, gentle, caressing, motherly  
type of scent that you must smell yourself to understand the passion of.  
"Rei..." he muttered quietly to himself, as uncalled for, unwelcomed tears came  
down slowly flowing on the sides of his face.  
Asuka and Misato stayed up worrying till around 2 AM, when Rei came to their door  
and told them about her close encounter with the Shinji kind. She handed them his walkman  
and indifferently trotted away without saying any more. They then were very relieved, so  
they went to sleep.  
That morning, as Shinji tried to sneak in to his room to pretend nothing had   
happened, he was greeted by 2 angry women. First came Misato's slap and obligatory lecture  
about responsibility and chores and communication, then came Asuka's wrath. She swung her  
hand at him with an open hand, and Shinji turned his head slightly sideways and closed his  
eyes. Then Asuka turned her hand into a fist and hit him, knocking him on the ground. He  
put his hand on his red sore cheek and looked at her, surprised.  
"You... idiot. What were you thinking? You were out with HER all night, weren't  
you? After all my efforts, all my... wasted..." at this point, her voice broke, and   
although she continued with her angry, frustrated monologue, she could hardly be  
understood. The afternoon when Shinji left, she had just realized that when he left, he  
was the type of person who could just go to someone else and pretend they never existed.  
She feared this; she feared that he would forget her, that maybe he would go off and love  
someone who could give him all he needed, someone like Rei. Then when Rei came, holding   
Shinji's walkman, she all but flipped out and lashed out at Rei. Because Rei was really   
closer to Shinji than she was, if for no other reason. Asuka was no fool, she knew how  
Rei felt for Commander Ikari, the only one who she could ever find who really resembled  
Shinji. If Shinji resembled him so much, maybe Rei would... maybe Rei would... Asuka   
didn't want to go there. She was just angry. With Shinji, with Rei, with everyone who  
could or would take her love... her best friend, the only one in this chaotic world  
who understood her, the only one who she understood. She'd tried to suppress this love  
for him by going for others, but he was the only one. Ever.  
"If you ever leave us... if you ever leave me and Misato again," he voice calmed  
and collected, becoming clearer, "you'll have to face more. More than a woman's wrath."  
Asuka turned around and left for her room, where she slammed the sliding door  
and stayed for most of the rest of the day.   
Misato and Shinji just stood around there, puzzled, silent. They didn't understand  
what the big deal was with Asuka. The only thing was that she had to do Shinji's chores  
that day. That was the only reasonable explanation that Misato and Shinji could form   
together. They each had their own specultions, but they kept them to themselves.  
"Could she really hate doing chores that much, do you think?" asked the ever   
clueless Shinji.  
"Dunno. I guess maybe she could," said the caretaker and superior of both the   
children, "I'm not sure, but it may have something with Rei coming over last night."  
"Rei came here?" asked the fearful Shinji, now sweating cold bullets.  
"Don't worry. She just came back to give back your little toy. Isn't that her  
coat? ... AHHH!!! I understand why you were out all night last night, you stud..." she  
suggested as she finally noticed Rei's green coat. She then started to nudge Shinji with  
her elbow, and raise and lower her eyebrow repeatedly, suggestively.  
"Ah! No, no, no..." Shinji started, while waving both hands like mad, red like  
a 2 dollar beet. He was looking away with a twisted face.  
"Ahhh... I see. Asuka knew. That's why. Hihihihi..." Misato said, still very  
suggestive. She was giggling like a schoolgirl with a new rumor. At this point, if you  
replaced Misato's face with a howling fox's face, you would not see any difference.  
Misato's taunting continued till Shinji completed all the house's chores that  
day. The only one left was washing the dishes right after dinner. Now Asuka had finally  
come out. She succumbed to her hunger and the smell of those TV dinners that Misato   
always keeps eating. She walked to the table, silent, and ate her share of food, still  
quiet as a dead tree. Misato was sitting across from Shinji, stuffing her face at an   
unbelievable pace that filled her cheeks like large, ripe red tomatoes.   
Misato was screaming loud commands at Shinji, with a mixture of sake and   
saliva dripping down the side of her lips. Shinji strangely understood the incoherent  
and close to inaudible words from Misato. Misato was now shooting pellets of rice from  
her bloated face at Shinji's forehead. The saliva-soaked rice stuck to Shinji's   
forehead and he looked down, annoyed, so he would not need to fish the rice out of his  
eyes anymore. The grains of rice started bouncing off of his forehead.  
This strange chatter was halted immediately when Asuka slammed the rice bowl  
on the table. Shinji and Misato both stopped short, looked at Asuka, and watched her  
walk off back to her room, quietly, with storm clouds up about her serene face. The   
two then stopped and looked at each other, puzzled.   
"She still mad at you?" asked Misato, between humongous deep swallows of the   
food in her mouth.  
"I... I don't... I think, maybe... I guess so. Y-yes." he managed, still staring  
down at his food.   
"Hmph. Kids..." Misato's voice trailed off and she stuffed another serving into  
her waiting face, "can't ever understand them."  
The next day, Monday, when Shinji woke up to go to school, Askua was gone.   
Misato had started her everyday obligatory taunting when Shinji went to the bathroom, and  
again on his way back to his room to get changed. When he was done, he sped out the door,  
feeling late. He sped on the way and went to school. He wasn't feeling too well today,  
either. He felt the same pains from the day before, and today he felt like throwing up,   
and his eyes felt watery.   
He finally reached his school, and he was, as he had expected, late. He was now  
ready to either collapse, or create a river of vomit. He opened the door, and was bent  
down, hands on his knees gasping painfully.   
"Sit down, Ikari-san." said the teacher with a distraught tone. She seemed worried  
but she tried to keep it to herself, "Are you feeling well?"  
"Y-yes. I'm... I'm okay." Shinji managed between deep gasps.  
It was another day, as usual, and the murmuring chatter of schoolkids filled the  
air of the class. But then, right before the 3rd period, a loud siren was sounded. It was  
another unfortunate Angel attack, and Asuka, Rei and Shinji looked at each other,   
confirming it. They then started on their way to the NERV HQ. Shinji was following pain-  
fully behind the two voluptuous females. His vision was starting to blur and everything  
in his sight started to become more and more distant. He shook this off and started off   
again towards NERV HQ.  
Quite quickly, Shinji thought, did they get there. He thought that the road to the  
moving platform from the school was longer than that, but he must've been hallucinating  
again due to his unfortunate health. Or lack thereof. The distress signals and flashing  
red lights had started up again, and loud shouts were heard through the com system. Shinji   
knew that this was the time to be completely serious. He couldn't falter, but... he wasn't  
feeling 100%, and if he could pass on a battle against an Angel, this would be the time to.  
But they were counting on him. As always. He would take a day-and-a-half off right after  
this battle.   
He changed into his entry plug suit quickly and strode swiftly into the room   
where he would enter the entry plug. Ritsuko was there waiting for him, and after a few   
words of encouragement, he entered, with her help, into the plug. The plug was shot into  
the EVA unit 01, and after the eyes glowed for a bit, the EVA unit was able to move.   
Just in the next dock, Unit 02, with Asuka at the helm, was done preparing a few  
seconds after Shinji was. She was restless already, and her competetive spirit wanted   
her to be the first to launch.   
"Hold on there, Shinji-kun," screeched Asuka from inside her Evangelion. She was,  
after all, the prodigy of the outfit.  
She trodded clumsily at Unit 01, but in between her and Unit 01, a great door  
opened and out came Unit 00, the first of the progeny. The prototype, the experimental  
appeared seemingly out of nowhere and thrust itself into Asuka's reckless path. A   
collision was inevitable and the 2 Evangelions fell and their wires tangled.  
"Get off me, you freak!" commanded Asuka, with undeniable commanding force.  
Unit 00, with Rei inside it, pushed off the floor, but with the umbilical   
cables were all but fused together, and so Unit 00 came crashing down again on Askua's  
Unit 02. At this point the cables ripped apart with great force. Then because of Rei's  
Evangelion's crash onto Unit 02, Asuka let out several energy draining flails and her  
Evangelion was immobilized. Unit 00 was hit by these flails, and so a number of mal-  
functions started up. A team of repair crew came down to the EVAs to try to repair them.  
"Those dolts! Fighting amongst themselves at a time like this!" shouted the   
frustrated Misato.   
"This is bad. It should take the repair crew 10 minutes to repair these things  
and get the EVAs in working condition." Ritsuko said, once again analyzing the situation.  
"Shinji! You need to stall and buy the other EVAs 10 minutes to be repaired. Can  
you do that?" asked Misato, in a forceful tone.   
"Y-yes." said Shinji, hesitating.  
The repair crew was given no warning, all they knew was that an amazing heat wave  
blew past them violently. The EVA Unit 01 was launched, on its first solo mission in a   
while now. In her now immobile EVA Unit, Asuka was cursing wildly at her luck. The last  
thing she wanted was to be stuck with Rei on top of her.  
The Evangelion was launched high into the air, uncharacteristically. It landed,  
causing a massive wave of shaking on the ground below. Tokyo 3 was perfect, from his   
point of view, and he wouldn't let some Angel redecorate for them. At the thought of  
Angels, he tried giving this one a number. Unsuccessfully. He had lost count at 5 and  
just gave them random numbers. All of them seemed to have names, though. Old fashioned  
names from the Christian Bible's old testament, like Michael or Gabriel or something.  
He wondered what this Angel's name was.  
"M-mmiss... Miss Rtisuko," he started at the com link, hesitatingly, this was  
no time to be asking silly questions like what the name of the Angels were, "do you...  
do you know what the name of this Angel is?"  
"Ophanimel." she said calmly, managing mysteriously to sound annoyed.  
"Th-thanks... thank you." he said, apologetically.  
The Angel was not one that was very large. It was about the size of the   
Evangelion. It was a very vague looking one. It looked like an Egyptian glyph or some  
sort of ancient rune belonging in some ancient ruins. Or maybe a talisman. It was yellow  
and had these bright, yellow wings that seemed not to be attached to the rest of it.   
Come to think of it, none of the pieces were attached together. But almost right square  
in the center of the whole mess of light... or stuff that looked like light, was a solid  
red-brown figure. It looked much like a Tengu mask, but instead of that thing that Tengus  
have on the forehead, it had the Evangelion's target; the Angel's S2 core.  
Shinji quickly took the initiative and unsheathed the progressive knife. Then he   
ran at it and slashed it. He did not touch a thing. Nothing. But when he passed through   
the figure of light, he heard voices, faintly, but clearly. Possessed by some demon, he  
walks at the Angel and drops his knife. He reaches the light and stops in his tracks  
right then and there. He was right... he could hear a voice, no, a thousand voices fused  
into one, singing a beautiful song that made no sense to him, but the beauty was just   
indescribable. Then he heard laughter. The light red-brown face was laughing and the   
song suddenly stopped. Maniacal laughter came from the little face, which was about as  
big as a person. Then the laughter became very breathy, and then a fearful darkness was  
ejected from the mouth of the mask. Shinji stretched out his left arm to touch this   
mysterious wondrous darkness when it sucked out all the energy out of the Evangelion.   
It then instantly restored about half the energy that remained in the Evangelion to  
the Unit and the other half exploded and destroyed the EVA Unit's left arm. The arm was   
now just flailing around recklessly.  
Shinji screamed murderously. There was little that could ever compare to the   
pain in his arm at that moment. It felt as if his own arm was truly blown to smithereens  
and what was left of it was flailing aimlessly in the air energyless. Shinji, in his  
cockpit, grabs his arm painfully, exerting more than a normal person could just to stay  
conscious. He looked at the timer on the monitor. Only around 3 more minutes before the   
other 2 Evas were operational again. He was glaring at it, hoping that by doing this, the   
timer would go faster. But something caught his eye and made him again focus on the   
impending Angel. The Angel was changing.   
The Angel, before this, was a figure of an ancient glyph that was made of pure  
light and radiated with warmth. It was quickly changing into a shadow-like humanoid  
creature with bat wings. The only similarity between the two mammoth creatures of   
destruction was that they were made of something, a force, but were not made of matter,  
and that demonic, evil-looking mask that it wore. Aside from pain, Shinji could only   
feel the shivers of fear that were sent down his system by the change in the Angel.  
This figure, which he saw now, was still radiant. But it was radiant with a   
darkness that had long become the enemy of humankind. The figure started to move now,  
it moved with wind-like speed, and its dark, empty fist landed solidly at the 'face'   
of the Evangelion. This propelled the EVA Unit 01 back and down several hundreds of  
meters. The progressive knife was down by his left side. He turned the Evangelion  
towards the knife, close to a whole semicircle forward, grabbed the knife with his  
Evangelion's right hand, and turned around. He was too slow. The Angel was very close  
to him now, and it crouched and uppercutted him quickly, bouncing him back even further.   
Misato was deeply concerned now, not only because he was fighting alone, but also   
because he was getting his behind handed to him and the Angel was destroying a lot of  
the fortified area of Tokyo 3.   
"How much longer can he hold his own...?" Misato muttered aloud to herself.  
"Don't worry. He knows what he's doing." Ritsuko said, managing to sound calm  
and worried at the same time. She turned her glance at Misato.  
Misato looked back at her and gave a look of agreement. Shinji was a strong  
kid, she thought, and he could take care of himself for 10 minutes.   
"...I have one concern, though. Shinji did not seem like himself today. He  
showed sign of sickness. Fever, in particular." Ritsuko said, now completely ruining the  
mysterious-facade impressions of her. She sounded extremely concerned and almost worried.  
"Hmm." Misato nodded in agreement. She saw it that morning also. He looked like   
how she was everytime she was having both a hangover and her PMS.  
Shinji could now barely stand the Evangelion up. He was being beaten brutally to  
the ground by the mysterious black figure. The figure ran at him, one of its arms in the  
air. It started its swing down, but Shinji jerked up and slashed through the underarm of  
the raised arm. The progressive knife was pulled back a bit, and Shinji fumbled to get  
it held right again. Then he stumbled to a stop, then swerved about to turn and face  
the Angel again. By the time he had turned, the Angel had grabbed a nearby light post,  
ripped it out of the ground, and came down with it on the EVA's head with such force that  
broke one of the Unit's glass eyes and created a huge purple dent in the Unit's face.   
The pain was close to overwhelming to the pilot of the great purple mammoth. Screaming,  
Shinji managed a low knee blow to what seemed to be the abdomen of the creature, forcing   
it back a few giant steps. With bent knees and hardly standing, the EVA was closer to   
falling than an oily ball on a moss-covered cliff. Taking two long, quick strides, Unit  
01 lunged at the Angel and swung the arm with the knife at it. The Angel used both arms  
to catch the only really movable limb left of the EVA. In panic, and fear of loss and   
immobilization, Unit 01 shook its body violently, trying its best to move it right side  
away from the Angel and left side closer to it. The Angel gave way, but only a bit. It   
still had most of the iron giant's forearm. Unexpectedly, the chunks of metal and strange  
wondrous fiber that had once been the EVA's left arm swings itself painstakingly at the  
unexpecting Angel. Taken aback by this, the Angel lets go of the struggling EVA's right  
arm. Jerking back unbalanced, the EVA starts it fall and crash into the earth. On its way,  
the great steel manifestation of the 14-year-old kicks up one foot after another, hitting  
the Angel and making it have to step back to gain balance in its step once again.   
The EVA's fall brought many thoughts of worry to the heart of Misato. But the   
prudent Shinji just got up stubbornly, almost angrily. Holding on to a building nearby, the  
EVA pulls itself up, slowly but surely. The knife, though, was crushed under the EVA's own  
foot. This caused the EVA to slip for a moment, but it soon resumed its return to its   
standing position. The Angel had jumped backwards and started to run at the Evangelion with  
both arms outstretched, in the opposite directions, the left and right. In both hands, there  
seemed to be more dark light emanating quietly. Shinji pulled the Evangelion's remaining arm  
back and tucked it. By now he was exhausted. He wanted to eye the timer, but all he needed  
now was a distraction. He made a long, deep, low, upwards, full-body uppercut swing at the  
Angel. The Angel bent its upper body backwards, so the attack missed completely. Unit 01 was  
in the air, and at that time, the two arms enclosed over the EVA unit, destroying most of the  
head unit. The head was now thick on the top and near the neck, and very thin where the hands  
were. The pain was completely unbearable to Shinji Ikari, the 14-year old. And suddenly, the   
jaw came off the Evangelion. The lower jaw disconnected from the upper jaw, and the EVA Unit  
screamed wildly. Then the EVA's elbow descended upon the Angel's shoulder. The hand of that  
right arm clawed on the back of the mask, and ripped part of the mask. The Angel let go of  
the EVA's head and pushed it off. The Angel raised its knee up to its chest and thrusted  
forward in a heavy, powerful kick. The kick connected straight into the EVA's chest and it  
stepped down knocked the EVA on its back. The EVA's right arm came round back again. It came  
around where the knee of the Angel should have been. It then scratched backwards swiftly,  
ripping the phantom leg apart. With the weight lifted off of it, the EVA unit tossed the   
leg aside and sat up violently, headbutting the Angel's abdomen, knocking it back a bit.   
Quicker than even the Angel, the EVA raised its elbow and elbowed the side of the Angel's  
torso. In on quick, violent motion, the EVA scratched out the abdominal area with its  
hand. The Angel, or at least the mask part of it, seemed to be wailing in pain. It then  
used its own elbow and elbowed the EVA's face, knocking it back on the ground, lying flat  
many meters away.   
"Shinji!" screamed Misato, futilly. She was worried because Unit 01 had gone berserk  
again. She was also worried because Shinji and his titanic steel extension were sprawled   
on the ground near a damaged building. "How much longer?" she managed, between worried  
deep gasps.  
Shinji was now barely conscious in the cockpit of the Evangelion. He could see a   
green bleep which was the only thing illuminating the otherwise dark, wet room. The bleep  
was the timer. It had reached 0. He did not know how long it had reached 0 for, but he   
knew he did what was expected of him. He could hear something, though, something barely  
audible. A voice saying things like "0.00000001 percent," "survival rate" and "life  
support system." Shinji did not care, though. He did what he needed to do.  
The next thing that Shinji Ikari remembered was the ceiling of the next place he  
was in. It was different, something he was unaccustomed to. Was he dead and in heaven?   
What had happened to the Angel? Did he even make a difference? He quickly sat up at the  
edge of what he was on. He felt the cushion underneath him and the cold metal bars behind  
him. He was once again in the infamous NERV infirmary. He got off the bed, and found the   
door half-open. He looked down at himself and he was still in his plug suit. He exited the  
quiet white room without looking back at it.  
He noticed something at the exact moment he was exiting the room. A wondrous color-  
ful butterfly unlike anything he'd ever seen before, in fantasy nor reality, shimmering with  
all the colors of the rainbow, floating gleefully, without a care of any kind, in the middle  
of NERV HQ. What was it doing there? Shinji had no idea why, but nonetheless, he was   
completely drawn to the tiny creature. He was helpless to its beauty, its grace, its  
indescribable, irrational serenity and its power over him. He walked, just as it had floated,  
without a care in the world, not beginning anywhere and not heading anywhere. As he walked by   
one of the doors in the long hallway, he could hear some nurses talking about someone.  
"Yeah, I think he has meningitis. High fever and hallucination. That and all those  
other symptoms. Bacterial, though." said the first nurse, speculation written all over her.  
"Definitely bacterial. If meningitis at all... it really could be just a high fever,  
you know," said the second nurse, sounding even less sure than the first.   
Shinji thought that both of them were wrong. He couldn't be sick anymore, he was   
feeling fine now. Albeit he still felt a bit slimy and dirty in his plug suit, but he didn't  
have his civillian clothes, so he couldn't complain.  
At this thought, an impulse urged Shinji to go home. He totally forgot about the   
butterfly and just started off to his home. No one said anything to him on the way to the   
elevator that connected the NERV HQ to the outside world. This surprised him a bit,  
because he expected everyone to be asking him how he was feeling after the large-scale battle  
with the Angel, and the long period of doing nothing except being sick in the infirmary.  
But this did not bother him one bit. He was in no mood to talk, to anyone, except for maybe  
either Misato or Asuka. Even Rei would be too much of a drag-down, because she had always  
been bogged down by his father. One thing he never understood was why Rei thought that it was  
such a privilege to have time to think of things like hating his father. Maybe she didn't  
know her parents that well? Or maybe her parents died when she was little. It could be that  
his father saved her when Unit 00 went berserk. He didn't know, but that part of her always  
bothered him. It was like she was some sort of nagging mother, or step-mother who loved his  
father. If she ever got with his father, he thought, he'd never call her mother.  
So he rode the elevator out of NERV HQ and out to the streets. The roads were full of   
officers and other men in uniform. He really made a mess when he was fighting the Angel. But  
areas he was sure he didn't trash were also destroyed, so he was sure that the girls had made   
it out and defeated the Angel. He didn't want to get entangled in any needless trouble, so he  
avoided the police. The police were patrolling the place, but luckily, he didn't meet with any   
of them. He was feeling healthy that day, he was feeling well and maybe even lucky. He knew  
one thing for sure, though; he was feeling strangely happy.   
So he finally made it to the apartment complex. Shinji was somewhat relieved that the   
door was open and he could see Asuka right across the room from the door. He entered silently  
and saw Asuka with a tight shirt and tight hot shorts. The shorts were the kind that look  
like cut-up jeans. But not blue, instead orange. The shirt, red and with a cute lip-shaped  
design in the middle of the chest area looked stunning on her. She was blow-drying her hair.  
He got halfway across the room when she turned sideways and started at the general direction   
of the door.   
"Hey, look who's here today!" she said loudly, obviously speaking loudly to inform   
Misato that someone had come. "Come here, you..." she said, with her arms outstretched in   
front of her.  
Shinji, by reaction, closed his eyes and turned his head away, while shielding his  
face with his hands and raising one foot in the air. But this was just stupid as the out-  
stretched maiden just passed by him like he wasn't there and went straight for the door.  
Standing there, waiting for Asuka's hug, was Ichikata Rouri. He was this low-  
profile kid from the school which both Shinji and Asuka came from. He did not hang out with  
kids like Asuka much, and his only ambition in life was to be invisible. He did not do this  
well, though, because of his thick, fast-growing moustache, his long hair often tied in a   
ponytail, his overconfident, uncaring attitude that made it seem like he cared not what   
others thought about him. He loved irony a lot, and this is the primary reason why he did  
agree with people like Asuka in some of his over-intellectual discussions.  
"I adore the cute beans out of you, Ichi-dono," said Asuka, fondly, while hugging  
him, and kissing him once, only once, softly, gently on the cheek.  
"But you know I haaate... you..." Ichikata's sarcastic voice started to trail off,  
he was beaten, and there was no way to be sarcastic in a romantic situation.  
"Oh, you meanie," she said, all but giggling filled with glee, tapping his nose,  
in her way, being intimate with him.  
Had it been a cartoon, like those mickey mouse catroons where everything was   
exaggerated, his jaw would be on the floor, and there would be blue, purplish lines strewn  
across his face, and his eyes would be wide and beady. His nose would also be so runny that  
there would be a long stream of snot coming from it. Also, he was actually sweating cold sweat  
at this strange sight and pairing.  
Misato exited her room and came to the living quarters. Shinji just sat on the floor,  
whispering something to himself, eyes still dilated, small as the periods on computers.   
"Awww... Hi Rouri-san." Misato greeted him warmly, because she also had a small crush  
on him herself, although she would never admit it to even herself, because he was so much  
younger than her. But he was so mature, and maybe... she perished the thought.  
"Good day, Misato-san. I trust the silicon implants of your breasts have expired.   
When are you going to get them renewed?" he said, managing to sound calm.  
"Oh, you. So you're going out with her?" she asked, quite calmly, but almost letting  
a tinge of annoyance escape through her voice, "Have her back by next Tuesday. Heh." She was  
acting awkward and out of character now, but Shinji could not see why and was puzzled.  
"Sure. The movies, motel and back here will only take a couple of days. Then the   
'conceive and leave' will be done..." he started off again, "...and over with."  
"Oh come now. Stop flirting with the ancient relic. You're here for me today,"   
commanded Asuka, in her usual forceful tone. She wasn't acting weird anymore. But no one  
had noticed him.  
So then Asuka and Ichikata walked out and down the street, presumably to a restaurant  
close by. The door was not closed, and Misato turned around, made 2 fists with her hands and   
turned tomato red, with her eyes closed. Freaked out, Shinji snuck out again to follow Asuka  
and Ichikata and see what they were up to. The peculiarity of the pairing had gotten to him.  
As could be expected, they went to a nearby restaurant, 'Tamago no Arashi' which was   
rising in popularity. It was one of the only restaurants left in Tokyo 3, because most of   
the others either packed up and left Japan altogether or were destroyed in Angel attacks.   
Except fast-food restaurants, which had installed protection units which made them sink   
into the ground at the first sign of an Angel attack. The specialty of the restaurant was a  
red chocolate cake which was rich and velvety. The head chef was a brilliant man, but he was  
always rambling of how things would have been had the Angels not completely obliterated his  
home country of Yemen.  
Shinji sat at the table closest to the door, and next to the couple. The only thing   
between them was a set of 6 or 7 potted plants standing next to each other. Shinji just sat   
there, listening, with his face buried deep in the menu. The two were talking about things  
that most normal couples talk about on their dates. Mostly each other, with bits and pieces  
of innuendo, sarcastically, of course, the future, the past, and everything they had in   
common with one another. Then Asuka started showing off her skin, her scars, and telling him  
the stories behind them. When she started this, Shinji could not help but peek through the   
plants.   
"This one I got when that Angel slammed me into that big building..." Asuka said,   
showing a long scar on her back.   
"And that one? From loneliness and a slippery shower floor, no doubt, eh?" Ichikata   
said, pointing at a would on her forearm.  
"No, silly. That's from yesterday's battle. The Angel broke the glass in my cockpit,  
and one of the broken pieces of glass grazed my shoulder." she said, with her cute, adorable  
pinkish pouty lips. As soon as Shinji saw her lips, his heart subconsciously decided that  
they were the most beautiful pair of lips he had ever seen.   
At this point their interaction included so much touching it was no longer funny.  
Asuka would put her whipped cream on his finger and lick it off. And all her cutesy-ness  
was poured all over him in unhealthy proportions. Then Ichikata started to tell the story  
of Oedipus Rex, and Shinji just lost patience and became sick. He left this sickeningly  
cute and sarcastic combination to themselves. They had issues they needed to work out, and  
he did not want to wait for the fireworks and the optional waterworks.  
He went home, tired again. The internal fatigue, after all, he didn't go to school  
today because the roads were jammed up from the Angel attack. The school was probably   
closed up anyways. Shinji didn't think much of the future. His thoughts about the future  
were "Let the future take care of itself." But despite this, he often made plans. Plans he  
seldom ever stuck to. His life was not a normal one. He couldn't change it to become a   
normal one if he wanted to. So he walked home. He was tired.  
Upon arrival, he knocked loudly and called out for Misato. In her idleness, she   
had forgotten to lock the door. She was not at home, either. No one was in their apartment  
but Pen-pen, who had fallen asleep in the igloo next to the refrigerator. So he sat on the   
floor by the door. The side opposite where the door opens to. He sat there, with no real  
purpose, just sitting there, waiting. He seemed to be able to see the butterfly again, the  
butterfly he had seen in the NERV infirmary, in the window across the room. But he was too  
tired to do anything. He didn't even get up for it.  
Then suddenly the door opened. He looked up sideways. It was Rei, in her full glory.  
She looked left and right. But not down at him. She then silently went to the dinner table  
and sat there, waiting. She did not seem to notice Shinji, either, but he was sitting in  
an unfortunately dark corner of the room. He was still just sitting there, waiting. But he  
soon got bored and went to sit by her at the dinner table. She gave him no recognition. She  
wasn't there for him, he thought. She must've been waiting for Misato. Maybe a direct order  
from his father. So he tried to get her attention in conversation.  
"So... Rei. That Angel was something, huh? Do you have any scars from the battle?"  
he asked, awkwardly. That was so stupid, he kept telling himself, why would she want to   
share her battle scars with you, he said to himself. This page taken from Asuka's flirting  
with her friend was unexpected of Shinji, and he himself did not know what he was doing.  
There was no response, no recognition. This was unexpectedly nonchalant, even for  
Rei, the queen of ice in the world of emotion.  
"I like your... I like, um..." he started, as he was eyeing her top-to-bottom,   
trying to find what he liked most about her, "...your, li....ps?" he said, hesitating. He  
subconsciously mistook her for Asuka. Their figures blurred in his mind for a moment, and  
then he just saw Rei again.   
Rei just yawned. He had never seen her do this before. He was hopeful as a virgin  
on his first date.   
But after that there was no more interaction between the two. They were like books  
on a shelf, collecting dust, getting buried in dirt. Shinji felt 2 cm tall.   
Then Asuka came barging in, destroying the strange serene quiet that set in an hour  
and a half prior. She was happy with this date, and that was a rare thing. She enjoyed the  
company of the young man, Ichikata Rouri.   
"Hey, Rei, come here, let's have some womanly talk," it seemed that a lot of   
Ichikata's sarcasm rubbed off on Asuka already with that comment.  
Rei walked and sat down at the small table across from Asuka. Shinji was in plain  
view now, but he figured that Asuka had simply started ignoring him and not talking to him  
because she was angry with him. He sunk to even deeper depths in his seat at the dinner   
table. He had angered 2 women, and only one was left that could help him, and she was off  
somewhere without telling anyone. Silence swept the household. There was a long period  
of painful, meaningless waiting.   
"I'm bored, let's do something," Asuka said, "hey, I know, let's kiss!" she said  
in the general direction of both Shinji and Rei. Shinji reacted again like when Asuka  
stretched out her arms earlier to hug Ichikata. Asuka meant either Rei or Shinji, so he  
feared what might happen.  
Rei got up and walked right beside Asuka. Asuka was sitting with her legs crossed  
on the floor, so she was looking up at Rei.   
"Oh come on, I was just kidding. Go away..." she said, then she turned her head  
down and mumbled to herself, "...wench."  
Just then, with strange spontaneity, Rei crouches, and then kisses Asuka on the   
lips. She puts her warm tongue in Asuka's awaiting, surprised mouth. To Asuka's own  
surprise, she is enjoying this and is possessed and enthralled by some demons of passion,  
causing her to act in ways she would not normally. She puts her own tongue down Rei's   
throat and entwines beautifully with it. Still possessed by the same demons, she runs her  
hands up and down Rei's back.   
Then, suddenly, in some strange fashion, as if awaking from a long, deep sleep and  
dream, Asuka lets go, and pushes away. She then grabs Rei's collar and starts slapping her  
repeatedly while screaming "BAKA! BAKA! BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!" as loud as she could scream,   
tossing Rei off, and running to the bathroom to gurgle with mouthwash again and again.  
Rei herself exchanges no words with anyone anymore, and walks off into the distant  
darkness that had become the outside at this time. Shinji manages a few giggles, and just  
waits there with his head on the table, sideways, trying not to ponder the mysteries of  
the universe.   
Misato came back a few hours later. She came back, being held up by Ritsuko and a  
few other co-workers. It would seem that Misato had been playing in a drinking contest at  
the bar again; losers pay. Misato's party dropped her off a little way into the house,  
at her bed, then left murmuring and talking amongst themselves.  
"Long.... liiiiiiiivvvvveee.... Tokyo threeeeeee...." she started her strange song  
again, as she always did, when she was drunk, and it made no sense, even at this point.  
Asuka exited her room, mouth foaming with toothpaste bubbles. "He's still there,  
isn't he? Out like a light," she said, but Shinji could not make her expression out to be  
either a smile or a frown.   
"Yeaaaaaa... They say he's sick. The IVs blew up for no reason either. And he's   
talking in his sleep." she said, drunk as a monkey drowning in liquor.  
"Talking in his sleep. Ichi-dono does that, too," Asuka said, wiping the foam off  
of her face with a fuzzy towel. Shinji could see her red face and cute smile, and he could  
see that she had her eyes closed and one foot in the air.  
"That kid's gorgeous," Misato said, the drool flowing like a river by the side of   
her face.   
"Lay off, dino..." Asuka snapped quickly, pointing her finger at Misato. Her face  
was still very red.  
"Make me, baby breasts..." Misato attacked back, "I don't think Rouri-san would  
like your flatness to my full, heartiness."  
At this Asuka grabbed the nearest 1000 kg. mallet and smashed it over her head  
at Misato. At this point, Misato was out like a light.  
Shinji Ikari sank deeper and deeper into his seat, in a way, trying to hide from  
the woman's wrath as previously mentioned. Who was 'he' though, who was sick and talking  
in his sleep? It seemed to be the same person that the nurses were talking about that  
morning, though. But could it have been Shinji himself? Or maybe Shinji's father cared  
for him after all. Maybe he saved Shinji like he did Rei. He had to see this for himself.  
He had to go back to NERV HQ, to see his father, if for no other reason. But with his   
laziness at its peak like this, he was in no mood to walk all that way back to the HQ.   
Just then, a butterfly, the butterfly, which he had seen twice before, appeared right   
outside the wide open door. This instantly rejuvenated him and he started to follow it,  
back, back to NERV HQ, where he had woken up that morning.  
He walked, with aim this time, down the barricaded roads full of men in uniform,  
screaming commands at each other louder than what was needed. Amidst all the chaos and  
pushing and loudness, something walked through quietly, without causing any disturbance   
of any kind. It was a childish sort of happiness, like a bug collector chasing a butter-  
fly gleefully with his or her net. This happy, meaningless fun was coursing through   
the young Ikari and he cared of nothing else at the moment. And then he reached the   
security elevator which went down to the inside of NERV HQ. He pressed no buttons nor did  
he do any sort of action to make the elevator go down. But it did. And the butterfly was  
waiting for it as was he. And they made it down, and off towards the infirmary. He then  
heard some more nurses talking, although he was not sure if they were the same nurses.  
"Yeah, that guy is out. No vital signs except for the heart. He's not even breath-  
ing." one said, sympathetically.  
"Yeah. NERV is pretty rough. Even we don't have it easy, though," said another,  
with less sympathy, but more self-love.  
"I just checked on him. MLN-011, right?" stated a third nurse.  
"Yeah. Poor guy," said the first voice.  
MLN-011. Now he knew the number of the room he had to go to. And so he walked down  
the hallway in search for the room with that number. He walked around for a bit, the  
butterfly fluttering close to his ear. Then he saw it. A strangely familiar room, strange  
that it was familiar because he had not been in the infirmary very often. Then he opened  
the door to the strange white room, and the smell of the anesthetics filled his lungs.  
His pupils dilated. He was at shock at what he saw. He had expected a lot, but he certainly  
did not expect this, he was in shock and this was just all too strange.   
What was before him, in bandages, white, yellowish, sweat-filled bandages, covered  
almost completely, save for enough of his face to reveal who he was, was Shinji Ikari him-  
self. He could see himself, and after a deep long gasp, he accepted this. The one who was  
sick, the one who had it rough, the one talking in his sleep, with few to no vital signs,  
this was him. Taking cue from the butterfly again, he laid down on his bed, the same way   
the other figure had been doing. Then a light came down on him from who knows where, and  
with it, came the song, the song that the thousand voices had been singing when he first  
came into contact with the Angel. But this time it was legible, he could see it, he could  
hear it, and understand it, it told him something.  
  
"My actions are no longer just  
I've lost sight of what matters  
All that I have left now,   
Are these bruises and tatters.  
  
I'm no longer pure, I'm doing wrong  
What have I been thinking so long?  
But you're just like me,   
And I can't let this be.  
  
You're following in my mistakes  
Don't make them again,  
Because you don't have what it takes  
To repent; to make things right.  
  
Turn back now, my son.  
Before it's too late  
And don't let anyone's actions  
Ever make you hate."  
  
Then in a waking, sitting up gasp, a jerking motion, a great escape, Shinji was  
sitting up on the metal bars of the infirmary's bed. He was released from the dream world.  
Or whatever it was. But all he knew was that he had to get out of there. So he left.  
On his way out, he stopped right outside the door where he had heard the nurses  
talking before. It turned out the room was the nurse's lounge.   
"Ladies, don't worry, I'm okay!" he said, making a peace sign at them. He WAS okay,  
the longing was gone, the pain was gone, and altogether, the sickness was gone. Even the  
bandages were gone. He had taken them off as he was exiting his room. On his way out, though,  
he met Ritsuko.  
"I see you're doing fine today, Shinji." said Ritsuko, as always with the mystery  
in her tone, along with severe calmness.  
"Yes. Can I ask you something, Miss?" he said, hesitatingly enough.  
"Fire away, Shinji-san." she said, finally turning her glance at him.  
"What happened to the Angel?" he asked, puzzled.  
"Well, it seems that this Angel differed greatly from anything we had encountered  
before; it was, in a way, not a true Angel," she paused, then continued, "Angels, are   
traditionally, like in the Bible and such, messengers. This one, was a herald, according  
to the myths. It would come and announce that greater Angels were on their way. So when  
Unit 00 and Unit 02 came out and fought it a while, it turned back into its primary form  
and disappeared, leaving no trace of anything." She was now being mechanical and so Shinji  
thanked her and departed.  
As he entered his home, Shinji saw the same sight as he had yesterday. He eyed the  
digital calendar on the radio-clock on the coffee table and it seemed it was still Tuesday.  
The same scene ensued that she came out and had her arms outstretched and hugged Ichikata.  
"Hey Ichi-san," Shinji greeted warmly, for he cared about Asuka and he knew she  
would soon grown on him like moss at the bottom of the waterfalls.  
"Hey prodigy," Ichikata said, between Asuka's great arms' hug. Then he made a peace  
sign and signaled to Shinji, "I'm taking this one off your hands," he said with a wink.  
"A-Asuka-san?" Shinji asked, face red as an apple.  
"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" Asuka said, still smothering poor Ichikata  
with her great hugs.  
"Could you come here, if you don't mind?" asked Shinji.  
"ARGHHH... don't go anywhere honey," she said to Ichikata, with a wink and a tap  
on his nose. Then she walked over to Shinji.  
Shinji closed his eyes, held her cheeks and kissed Asuka's warm red cheek, than said  
"I'm sorry for the way I was on Saturday and Sunday."  
Asuka was quiet. Not a single complaint was heard from her, and she was just sitting  
there, wide-eyed, with her mouth hanging open, looking up slightly at the ceiling.  
Just then Misato came out, interrupted the moment and greeted Ichiktata as Rouri-san.  
Then Ichikata made a few comments out loud, and Asuka walked off with him, her face still  
red, and holding her cheek where she had been kissed.  
  
END. 


End file.
